Miriam Makeba Quick Links

Legendary South African singer known as Mama Africa is represented in today's Google logo sketch

If you are wondering what today’s Google Doodle image is all about, the African-style sketch of a woman singing into a microphone, in front of the Google logo, represents South African singer MIRIAM MAKEBA. Makeba – often nicknamed ‘Mama Africa’ was born on this day in 1932 and passed away in November 2008. Google have decided to honour her life’s achievements in artistic form, on their search engine home page today.

Makeba was considered the first African artist to popularize the music of South Africa around the world and was hugely popular in the 1960's when she was best known for the track ‘Pata Pata.’ The song was first released in 1957 but was released in the United States ten years later. Miriam Makeba went on tour with a number of popular American recording artists including Paul Simon and Harry Belafonte. She was also known for the novelty song ‘the Click Song,’ which incorporated the distinctive ‘clicking’ noises of her native Xhosa language.

In their obituary of Mama Africa, the New York Times described her as a “South African singer whose voice stirred hopes of freedom among millions in her country with music that was banned by the apartheid authorities she struggled against.” Makeba died at the age of 76. She collapsed as she was leaving the stage at a concert in Italy and died later that night.

Shot at the same time as the award-winning doc When We Were Kings, this companion film is even better. In linking the legendary 1974 Rumble in the Jungle with the music festival that ran alongside it, we get a remarkable glimpse of the day's racial and political issues.

President Mobuto himself provided the venue for the three-day music festival, although Don King concentrated on the Ali-Foreman main event. A Liberian investment group funded both the festival and the documentary, which goes some way in explaining why it took 35 years to edit together footage that covers everything from the Zaire-bound plane flights to the amazing performances. The best moments are when the participants land in Africa, seeing the home of their ancestors for the first time and interacting with the community around them.